Stop The Killing Campaign
9/24/06
Los Angeles - Activists met at 10 AM to embark on a round of mobile demos with the Stop The Killing campaign against the senseless and needless slaughter of tens of thousands of lost and homeless animals by the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services (LADAS).

The first stop on this beautiful, sunny September day was the mayoral mansion at 605 S. Irving. CBS and NBC news asked to meet us at the site, and two activists spoke to a Newsweek Magazine reporter. Villaraigosa was out of town, but his wife and neighbors heard the customary chants - including "No more mayoral lies, no more compromise!" and "Tony's animals are safe at home, while shelter animals die alone!"

Activists educated the entire neighborhood about how thousands of healthy, treatable animals are slaughtered every year - including mothers with their nursing infants - while little or no effort is made to adopt them. Then they asked why one incompetent, uncaring General Manager after another is appointed when there are brilliant, compassionate local candidates committed to implementing proven protocols, programs, and policies that will catapult LADAS toward humane No Kill. They also inquired why Villaraigosa appointed Ed Boks - a two- time loser - to the position of General Manager when there are dedicated, intelligent, educated, compassionate, and organized individuals right here in LA who would have long since had us on the road to No Kill.

Next on the protest tour was the home of City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo at 800 S. Windsor. Activists took him to task for trampling on their rights to speak freely and protest. They wanted to know why kennel worker Jason Avery was never prosecuted for beating to death a cat named Tigra who escaped from her cage at the South Central shelter - while peaceful, above-ground activists have been dragged into court and tried on charges of "focused picketing."

Some of Delgadillo's neighbors thanked campaigners for being there to stand up for the animals, and another came out and joined the protest! Several of Delgadillo's neighbors complained about his kids' continuous screaming outside and how he blocks the sidewalk with his gigantic SUV (forcing pedestrians to walk out into the street to get around it).

But what was most telling was the fact that, two weeks ago, a group of fifteen seniors (some in their seventies and eighties) had picketed right outside Delgadillo's home to protest his close ties to slumlords who are attempting to raise rents in rent-controlled apartments! It seems that the protesting seniors were standing right in front of Delgadillo's house - yet, nobody in the City Prosecutor's Office is charging THEM with "focused picketing"! However, Cocky Delgadillo and his henchmen tried two ADL-LA members on that charge - because they had the audacity to picket a City employee who is responsible for the systematic execution of thousands of shelter animals! (Do we detect the noxious fumes of a "double standard"?)

Delgadillo - along with prosecutors like Spencer Hart and Vivienne Swanigan (and some unenlightened judges) - is attempting to SHRED the Constitution and Bill of Rights when it comes to those individuals who stand up for the thousands of companion animals being slaughtered inside our City shelters. Talk about SELECTIVE PROSECUTION!

Finally, it was off to the luxurious and expensive condo/apartment complex of LADAS General Manager Ed Boks - the Palazzo - located at 344 S. Hauser. That $165,000 annual salary has purchased Ed some mighty fancy digs! Activists chanted and let the neighbors know that they had an animal murderer living in their building. They spoke about how Ed was asked to leave Maricopa County and fired from New York City after running those shelter systems aground spending funds on expensive office furniture and laser computers. Many residents came downstairs to ask questions and take leaflets, while others came out onto their balconies and hung out their windows to hear what activists had to say.

Our police liaisons and legal representatives were on hand to field questions from or address concerns by police. Videographers taped the demonstrations. Ironically, very few police showed up - and those that did displayed very little interest. They were content to "check out" the scene and take off again.

It appears that the best way to take revenge on a government hellbent on squashing the rights of political dissenters is to continue stepping up to the plate and keeping up the fight. We CAN and we WILL get on the road to No Kill in this city. There are exceptional individuals who live right here in LA willing to work in the capacity of administrators, consultants, and veterinarians inside LADAS; but they are not interested in working with Ed Boks - whom they view as incompetent, arrogant, and lacking in the ability to take this city to No Kill. Boks has proven himself incapable of getting two previous shelter systems on the road to humane No Kill - and it looks like LA will be in the same situation Maricopa and NYC found themselves when Boks was shown the door! THE ANIMALS DESERVE SO MUCH MORE!

Thanks to everyone who came out to stand up with nobility and determination to end the cycle of animals imprisoned against their wills, dragged to the kill rooms, executed, shoved into freezers, and carted by City garbage truck to the rendering plant to be ground into fertilizer and fed to fish raised on "aquatic farms."

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated" and "I hold that the more helpless a creature the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man." SEE YOU AT THE NEXT STK PROTEST!